Council approves slew of requests to fund projects from reserves

Following a midyear budget review, the city will use $2 million from reserves and grants to help fund police upgrades, park construction and Tustin Legacy development.

The City Council approved nine supplemental requests, ranging from $2,000 to more than $600,000.

The largest requests were $674,000 from reserves to upgrade police equipment and $583,000 from the Water Enterprise Fund to buy more water because the 17th Street Desalter has been offline for longer than expected, said Sean Tran, the city's administrative services manager.

Certain special funds are collected to pay for these types of projects “so we don't use the general fund to pay for it,” said Finance Director Pamela Arends-King.

For example, reserves from the Park Development Fund only pay for certain projects – it will go toward Cedar Grove Park renovation costs and a remodel of the kitchen at Clifton C. Miller Community Center. The Asset Forfeiture Fund, which includes money seized from drug arrests, will fund $65,000 in upgrades for the Police Department's emergency operation center.

Also, in some situations, a certain amount might have been budgeted for a project, but the final cost changes or bids are more expensive than expected, Arends-King said.

The police car equipment and emergency operation center upgrades were added in light of Mayor Al Murray's goals, Arends-King said. One of Murray's priorities this year is increasing public safety.

The midyear report showed that the general fund, or operating, revenues for the 2013-14 fiscal year are projected to be $49.9 million, an increase of $2.2 million from when the budget was adopted. The bump in revenues comes primarily from increased building permit and plan-check money because of more development at the Tustin Legacy.

The city's largest sources of revenue are sales and property taxes. The city expects $22 million in sales taxes this year, a 3.4 percent increase from last year, while property taxes have stayed stagnant at $8.1million a year.

The city's projected revenues for this fiscal year will total $93.3 million and projected expenditures $132.9 million. The difference is because the city is spending money that has been saved over the years on capital projects, Arends-King said.

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